SAN JOSE, Calif. – Former WEC bantamweight champ Brian Bowles sounds like he’s headed to a high-school P.E. class rather than a professional, no-quarter-given cage fight.

“Some people are going to be popular, and some people aren’t,” Bowles (10-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) said today in advance of his meeting with Urijah Faber (25-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC 139 event, which takes place at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. His fight is part of a main card that airs live on pay-per-view.

In four years under the big lights, Bowles has struggled to find an audience. Now, it sounds a little like he’s giving up looking.

Really, he sounds like the A/V kid who’s last picked for teams, plays Risk in the cafeteria with a handful of fellow dorks, and is lucky to snag a girl for prom, much less a girlfriend for four years. And, of course, on the other side of the cafeteria is Faber, surrounded by alpha males and cheerleaders alike, aloof with the constant attention and praise that come so naturally. The guy for whom everything seems so effortless.

“You don’t know why he’s cool, but he is,” Bowles said. “I happen to not have it. Some people have it. Faber has it. It is what it is.”

If Bowles is rejecting popularity to play more “Doom,” you can’t really blame him. Nothing has come easy in his career. After five consecutive victories, including his title-winning fight against Miguel Torres, he’s been on and off the sidelines with multiple injures; he’s almost like the Rip Van Winkle of bantamweights. By the time he arose from his slumber, the WEC had folded into the UFC. Just four months ago, Faber was top-billed against champ Dominick Cruz while Bowles toiled on the preliminary card.

This is after he returned to action and made his octagon debut by submitting Damacio Page at the exact same time and in the exact same way as when they fought three years prior. It was like catching the combat Haley’s Comet.

Oh, and then bantamweight Demetrious Johnson won the second crack at Cruz, and Bowles is theoretically the last thing standing between the champ and, well, Faber.

What’s more, Bowles is fighting not too far from Faber country in Sacramento, Calif.

Might as well just fight and forget the rest.

“I go out there and try [to] finish people,” Bowles said. “I do what I do, and that’s the only thing I can do – go out there and try and win and try to let the rest take care of itself.”

After losing his title to Cruz nearly two years ago and spending so much time on the bench, UFC win No. 3 is at stake for Bowles when he meets Faber. That’s an impressive accomplishment by any measure. The winner of the fight likely will earn a No. 1 title contender position, and that’s great, too. Bowles is, of course, dying to get his belt back with a rematch against the current champ.

Make no mistake about it: Becoming the best fighter he can be and getting the best opportunities possible will always guide his preparation while he’s in the UFC. But stealing the cool kid’s thunder in front of his hometown crowd for a brief moment?

Well, maybe he could step back into the cafeteria for a moment.

“I look at this fight as a chance for me to shine,” Bowles said. “He’s a popular guy. Fighting him is going to bring me fans.”

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